Cousins Properties: Leaders in Sustainable Building

For 50 years, Cousins Properties has been in the corporate real estate business. During that time, the company has developed 20 million square feet of office space, 20 million square feet of retail space, more than 3,500 multi-family units and more than 60 single-family neighborhoods across the Sun Belt.

Cousins has built and maintained an industry-wide reputation for premium management services, top quality leadership and innovative and sustainable developments.

President and CEO Larry Gellerstedt recognizes that tenants want to do business with building owners and landlords who reflect their own practices and values, especially when it comes to sustainability.

Cousins Properties’ history of sustainability stretches back to the 1970s, when the company embraced the philosophy of responsible land stewardship. John McColl, executive vice president of development at Cousins says, “We’re very proud of the impact we think we had back in a time when sustainability wasn’t really talked about.”

The tradition of environmental stewardship continues today. “Our goal is to find the little things that we can do to make a difference,” explains Gellerstedt.

One of those “little” things has had big returns. Recently, Cousins switched to using Georgia-Pacific’s enMotion Automated Touchless Dispensers in the restrooms of its office buildings.

“We would hopefully save money and also bring a more health-conscience product to the market for our customers,” says McColl of the reasoning behind the switch. “What we didn’t actually know is that we’d end up saving nearly 30-35 percent in waste in paper products because of the use of this machine.”

Georgia-Pacific is proud to have a partner in Cousins. This video showcasing Cousins Properties and a few of their customers reveals how the smallest of changes can have a ripple effect that is good for the environment, people and business. We call this sustainable!